Autotunes music movement toy vehicle

ABSTRACT

An educational and entertaining toy vehicle that includes a body member that is designed for including a mechanical music movement. The music movement is coupled to the rear axle via a gear system that winds the spring of the music movement through a first gear ratio while pushing the vehicle in the reverse direction and propels the vehicle through a second gear ratio on release of the vehicle. The release of said spring is controlled by a speed regulator. The toy vehicle is further enhanced by including a toy figure that is representative of the included tune and a lenticular image that wraps around a substantial portion of the top of said vehicle.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to toy vehicles and more particularly pertains to a new toy vehicle assembly that couples a common spring powered musical movement with a novel pull back gear system to wind the musical movement spring and propel said vehicle while playing a tune.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

The use of toy vehicle assemblies that include mechanical musical movements or pull back motors is described in the prior art.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,159 Bass et al. Aug. 25, 1981 describes a toy musical train which incorporates an automatic reversing mechanism and a musical movement coupled to a motor.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,997 Elliot Handler, Oct. 20, 1959 describes a toy musical vehicle wherein the musical movement is actuated by a rotating member such as a wheel or axle. The method therein describes the actuation of the musical movement with a belt and friction wheel.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,451 Holtier, Apr., 30, 1991 describes a toy vehicle structure that incorporates a music movement assembly with selectable operating options, however it does not provide a pull back spring drive mechanism.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,749,046 Jul. 6, 2010 describes a toy vehicle pull back energy storage gear mechanism providing different speeds.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,534 Dec. 30, 1980 describes a toy vehicle having a spring drive mechanism coupled through first and second unidirectional slip clutch members to the drive wheels thereof.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,986 Aug. 4, 1987 describes a spring drive mechanism for propelling toy vehicles that utilizes an engaging lever.

Numerous spring drive toy vehicle patents exist that fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements. However they do not combine a musical movement that contains a spring with a pull back gear system that winds the spring through a first gear ratio while pushing the vehicle in the reverse direction, and for propelling the vehicle through a second gear ratio on release of the vehicle.

The existing art is also complicated to assemble because of the use of multiple axles that require support frames at both ends. Furthermore they utilize levers or the displacement of axle positions to engage and disengage various gears leading to excessive gear wear. Other toy vehicles that included a musical movement but were not connected to the wheels included a key to wind the spring.

The need remains for a pull back spring powered toy vehicle that addresses the limitations of the prior art. The present invention further produces a musical tune without the use of batteries and electronics by the use of simple mechanical means. Further there remains a need for a design that couples a widely available reliable musical movement mechanism with a pull back gear system that is simple to manufacture with a reduced part count that captivates the attention of a young child while providing educational benefits of music and mechanics.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention meets the needs presented above by meshing an existing mass produced mechanical music movement to a unique pull back gear assembly in a toy vehicle.

Further the pull back gear assembly is coupled to at least one wheel so when the musical movement is playing a musical tune the toy vehicle will move forward.

Further the pull back motor gear assembly will wind a spring in the musical movement when the toy vehicle is pulled backwards.

Further the gear assembly that winds the spring through a first gear ratio while pushing the vehicle in the reverse direction, propels the vehicle through a second gear ratio on release of the vehicle.

Further the use of transparent plastic in the body of the toy vehicle makes the musical movement visible at all times providing the young child user an opportunity to observe and learn simple mechanical principles of motion and simple gears and an understanding of an old method of storing and playing musical tunes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new toy vehicle assembly presenting a novel eye-catching conversation piece. This is further enhanced by including a detailed figure in each vehicle that is specific to the included tune. Further the top surface of each toy vehicle is substantially flat horizontally from left to right to provide a surface for printed graphics, preferably lenticular images to be glued to.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new musical toy vehicle that does not require batteries or electronics.

To this end, the present invention generally comprises a spring powered musical movement coupled to a unique pull back gear assembly that is coupled to at least one wheel and enclosed in a unique toy vehicle body assembly.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims.

The objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a new toy vehicle assembly according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the toy vehicle assembly.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the toy vehicle assembly that includes the musical movement.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the toy vehicle assembly excluding the musical movement assembly.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the two ratchet gears used in the assembly.

FIG. 6 is a cross section of the left ratchet gear housing and bevel gear assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 2 thereof, a new toy vehicle assembly embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the reference numerals will be described.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a new toy vehicle of the present invention. The car body shell 300 is attached by screws to a car base 200. The car body of the present invention is preferably injection molded lightly colored transparent plastic but other materials can be utilized. A semicircular arc channel 330 provides a top bearing surface for the front and rear axles. A recess 320 indents the top surface of said vehicle for the attachment of artwork, not shown. In the present embodiment of this invention said artwork is preferably a lenticular image. Further a separately molded plastic steering wheel 340 is inserted through the artwork and into a hole in the top surface of said vehicle and retained by outward spring action of legs on said steering wheel 340. The top surface of the body shell 300 includes a circular cavity 310 for the insertion of a toy figure that is best associated with the melody of the music movement included. An example could be a dog figure that is combined with the tune, “How Much is That Doggie in the Window”. This cavity could also hold a magnet to which the figure which contains a small ferrous plug could be attached thus eliminating the requirement for a hole to be die cut in the artwork.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the toy vehicle assembly. All the gears in this embodiment of the invention are injection molded plastic. Spur gear 40 is fixed concentrically to shaft 20 of the music movement assembly 10 and the bottom surface of said gear 40 is coincidental with the end of shaft 20. The music movement assembly 10 of the present invention is part number 3YB2 manufactured by Yunsheng Co., Ltd. Musical Product Division, Ningbo City, China and best described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,173.

Spur gear 50 and bevel gear 60 are molded as a single part and mesh with spur gear 40. This part is mounted in a rotational position co-axially on shaft 230 which is molded perpendicular with the car bottom surface indent 215 of car bottom 200. The surface 215 is recessed approximately 1.5 mm. Additionally there is a raised surface 235 of approximately 0.25 mm around the base of shaft 230 upon which the bottom surface of spur gear 50 slides thus separating the majority of the surface area of the bottom of spur gear 50 from the surface below it. No retainer fastener is required to retain this gear part in place.

Spur gear 70 and bevel gear 80 are molded as a single part. It is mounted in a rotational position co-axially on shaft 220 which is molded perpendicular with the car bottom recessed surface 215. Additionally there is a raised surface of approximately 0.25 mm around the base of shaft 220 upon which the bottom surface of spur gear 70 slides thus separating the majority of the surface area of the bottom of spur gear 70 from the surface below it. No retainer fastener is required to retain this gear part in place. The centers of shaft 220 and shaft 230 are placed vertically below the center line of rear wheel axle 140. Spur gear 70 meshes with spur gear 50. In the present embodiment of this toy vehicle spur gear 40 has 30 teeth, spur gear 50 has 25 teeth and spur gear 70 has 11 teeth.

Rear wheel axle 140 is supported in a semicircular arc channel on lands 210 that are molded extensions of car base 200, the outer surfaces of which are coincident with the outer side surfaces of toy vehicle shell 300 in FIG. 1. On steel wheel axle 140 there are machined opposing parallel flats 150 and 155 for the matching flats of ratchet gears 100 and 180 to bond with. Ratchet gears 100 and 180 are identical, see FIG. 5. Enclosing ratchet gears 100 and 180 are two gear assemblies 120 and 170 respectively which are free to rotate axially on axle 140. Gear assembly 120, see FIG. 6 for a cross section, is molded as a single component consisting of an internal ratchet gear housing 110 and co-axially molded to the side of it a bevel gear 130. In the present embodiment of the invention, bevel gear 130 meshes with bevel gear 60 with a one to one ratio, however this can be adjusted to accommodate different springs in music movement 10. Gear assembly 170 is molded as a single component consisting of an internal ratchet gear housing similar to 110 and co-axially molded to the side of it is a bevel gear 160. In the present embodiment of the invention bevel gear 160 has 14 teeth and it meshes with bevel gear 80 which has 32 teeth. Washers 90 and 190 are included only to prevent any lateral movement of the wheel axle 140 if excessive wear in the assembly occurs. Attached to either end of the axle are wheels 320. The wheels consist of two parts, the inner hub 330 and the tire 340.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the car base showing the gear assembly of the present invention. Music movement 10 is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,173. It consists of a frame on which is mounted various components. The housing 30 contains a spring wound around shaft 20. Connected to shaft 20 is a ratchet gear and an air regulator consisting of 2 paddles that spin on a worm gear shaft that utilize the friction of air to regulate their speed. Connected to this ratchet gear, not shown, via a bevel gear is a cylindrical body 35 with a plurality of projections, not shown, that encodes the musical tune. This drum is geared to rotate axially past a comb 25 that consists of a plurality of parallel vibrator strips having different frequencies of vibration. When a projection on the surface of the drum strikes a vibrator strip it momentarily flexes the vibrator strip before slipping off it. This vibrator strip then vibrates producing a musical tone. The air speed regulator controls the speed of rotation of the unwinding spring and the drum and in the present invention via the gears described herein the forward speed of rotation of the rear wheels. In the present invention the frame of the musical movement 10 is fixed to the bottom of the car with 3 screws inserted from the underside of the car base 200 into threaded holes 15 in the base plate.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the car base without the musical movement. Three countersink holes 240 are molded into the car base 200 for receiving the three screws for mounting the musical movement 10. Molded into the base plate 200 are 2 vertical alignment shafts 250 that are received by holes in the base plate of the musical movement 10. At the bottom of the alignment shafts 250 and surrounding the mounting screw holes 240 are raised molded faces 245 on which the base plate of the musical movement sits. These molded faces 245 in the present invention are approximately 2 mm high and they raise the bottom of the musical movement away from the upper surface of the base plate 200 and recessed area 215 providing clearance space for gear 40. Countersink hole 260 is one of four holes in each corner of car base 200 for receiving screws for attaching the base to the upper car body shell 300.

For descriptive purposes arrows are indicated on the gears in FIG. 4 with the annotation F representing forward and the annotation W indicating winding up of the music movement spring which occurs when the vehicle is pulled in reverse. When the music movement 10 plays a tune gear 40 rotates clockwise propelling the toy vehicle forward. Gear 40 drives gear 50 counter clockwise which drives the gear 70 and gear 80 assembly clockwise. This in turn drives bevel gear assembly 170 forward which engages the ratchet gear fixed to the axle thus rotating axle 140 to propel the toy vehicle in a forward direction. In the present invention one rotation of gear 40 rotates the wheels approximately 6.2 complete revolutions. While the vehicle is moving forward, gear assembly 120 is engaged by bevel gear 60 and rotates forward (F) 1.2 times for each revolution of gear 40. Since the axle rotates 6.2 times for each revolution of gear 40 the axle is turning faster than gear assembly 120 and thus the ratchet gear 100 fixed to the axle and housed by gear assembly 120, slips.

To wind up the spring in music movement 10 the car is pulled in reverse. When pulled backwards the axle is rotated by the wheels. Ratchet gear 100 engages the teeth in gear assembly 120. Ratchet gear 100 thus drives bevel gear 60 via bevel gear 130. Since the ratio of these bevel gears of the present invention is 1 to 1, one rotation of the wheels rotates the bevel gear 60 and spur gear 50 once. This in turn rotates spur gear 40 and winds the music movement 10 spring approximately 0.8 times. Since all the gears are always meshed, the rotation of gear 50 while winding the spring, also rotates gear component 70 and 80 which turns approximately 2.27 times faster. This in turn rotates gear assembly 170. Using the gear numbers described in this detailed description it can be calculated that the bevel gear assembly 170 will rotate approximately 5.2 times faster than gear assembly 120 and axle 140 and in the same direction. Since gear assembly 170 is thus rotating considerably faster than the rotational speed of the axle 140, it will slip on the ratchet gear 180.

When the toy vehicle is pulled forward then both ratchet gears will slip preventing damage to the gears and music movement.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. It is also relatively apparent that variations in gear ratio and the attachment of mechanical links to one or more of the rotating parts herein to animate the vehicle toy figure is possible.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. 

1. A toy vehicle assembly that includes a mechanical music movement assembly.
 2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said music movement assembly includes at least a musical drum, a set of combs, a spring and a speed regulator.
 3. The music movement assembly of claim 2 which is coupled via a gear assembly to the rear axle of said vehicle.
 4. The assembly of claim 3 wherein said music movement spring stores potential energy when said vehicle is moved in reverse. When said vehicle is released said energy drives the vehicle forward while playing a tune.
 5. A toy vehicle assembly of claim 4 that winds the music movement spring through a first gear ratio while pushing the vehicle in the reverse direction and propels the vehicle through a second gear ratio on release of the vehicle.
 6. A toy vehicle assembly that includes a transparent body shell or other surface areas that allows the music box and related gearing of the assembly in claim 5 to be seen.
 7. A toy vehicle shell of claim 6 that includes a recessed upper surface that is a substantial portion of said surface to insert and retain an image. 